Ecuador Diversified

Ecuador is a great place of diversification.

I often get letters from readers like this.

Dear Gary, I have noticed that you have mentioned (a few times) that you and Merri are not residents of Ecuador —– and you do not want to become residents. Would you be kind enough to explain what brought you to this decisions? Thank you,

My first reply is always “grandchildren!”

Plus there is a limitation. When you become a resident you cannot be out of Ecuador more than 90 days per year during the first two years of your residency. Merri and I have not been in one place that long for 40 years.

This is our unique quirk. We are very mobile people… have four homes and move around a lot.

Every person has a unique set of circumstances. Our relationship with our God, family and purpose in life should be the first determining factors that shape a lifestyle including where we live.

Yet if I did not have grandchildren in the US, I suspect that Merri and I would be living in the same way we do in the Blue Ridge and Ecuador with diversification.

If you have been reading my site for long you may know that since I wrote my first book, Passport to International Profit in the 1970s, my mantra has been to have what I call a “Six Point Command Posture” which is to:

Live in one country
Bank in a second country
Invest in many countries
Earn in two or more countries
Use a company incorporated in a fifth country
Take a second residence

Why diversify and have two places of residence? The answer is to have options.

Things could go wrong in Ecuador. My impression is that Correa is nowhere as bad as the Western press make him out to be… yet if I am wrong… or some other bad event takes place in Ecuador that makes it unsuitable for us, Merri and I have an option.

I do not want to be stuck with everything invested in Ecuador… or any one place anywhere.

So why be in Ecuador at all? We love the people… the year round sun… the easy way of life… the access to a holistic natural lifestyle and the low cost of living.

Plus frankly, I am as concerned that things could go wrong in the USA.

There are a number of fundamentals about America that are scary to me.

By now almost any thinking person can see raging inflation looming ahead. They can see the US dollar falling. Yet there are many more American problems I keep my eye on… like the loss of our basic rights. Take for example the rule that the US military cannot operate in police actions on US soil. This is a good rule… yet look at this.

I don’t have a lot of respect for the daily press. There is too much meaningless, bad news that seems slanted towards helping a few.

For example I have been watching the press building a Swine Flu scare since the beginning of the year. They are at it right now with… “watch out for swine flu this fall.” The press, knowingly or not, is preparing the public to buy into swine flu vaccine.. good for pharmaceuticals… but maybe not so good for the individual. Whether the press publishes this type of stuff because fear sells papers or for some hidden agenda, I do not know. I am not a conspiracy theorist… but I do know that history suggest that no republic lasts in a state of harmony for very long.

So I read with great concern an August 8 article in the science section of the New York Times entitled “Climate Change Seen as Threat to U.S. Security” by John Broder.

Here is an excerpt from the article: WASHINGTON — The changing global climate will pose profound strategic challenges to the United States in coming decades, raising the prospect of military intervention to deal with the effects of violent storms, drought, mass migration and pandemics, military and intelligence analysts say.

Such climate-induced crises could topple governments, feed terrorist movements or destabilize entire regions, say the analysts, experts at the Pentagon and intelligence agencies who for the first time are taking a serious look at the national security implications of climate change.

Recent war games and intelligence studies conclude that over the next 20 to 30 years, vulnerable regions, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and South and Southeast Asia, will face the prospect of food shortages, water crises and catastrophic flooding driven by climate change that could demand an American humanitarian relief or military response.

An exercise last December at the National Defense University, an educational institute that is overseen by the military, explored the potential impact of a destructive flood in Bangladesh that sent hundreds of thousands of refugees streaming into neighboring India, touching off religious conflict, the spread of contagious diseases and vast damage to infrastructure. “It gets real complicated real quickly,” said Amanda J. Dory, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy, who is working with a Pentagon group assigned to incorporate climate change into national security strategy planning.

But a growing number of policy makers say that the world’s rising temperatures, surging seas and melting glaciers are a direct threat to the national interest.

What concerns me in this article is that it could be a warning shot that more American rights are about to be violated.

The implication is that anything to do with climate change could be viewed as a threat to national security and that more normal, democratic rights to … privacy… presumption of innocence… right to an attorney etc. will be reduced in the name of climatic national security.

I hope I am wrong about this. If not, is there anything I can do about this? Not much… but live in a positive way that is as good for as many as is possible. I can do my best to be ethical and prepare, so if living conditions shift badly in the US… there is always Ecuador. Or vice versa. (See more on ethical investing below).

I doubt things will get so bad in the US that I would not want to live here anymore.

I doubt things will get so bad in Ecuador that I would not want to live there anymore.

If I am wrong, I doubt even more, that things will get so bad in both places that I will not want to live in one or the other of these societies.

Just in case, here is a photo from my passport. This is the stamp you get when you are allowed to reside permanently in the UK.

I can always live in the UK and from there, anywhere in the European Union.

This also fits into our lifestyle as we have children who live in England and expect to have grandchildren living there some day.

The point is I have options because I am diversified. Yet the options fit my particular lifestyle.

The US is central to all my family. The US is a country I love and know and as a US citizen have certain rights.

Ecuador is 3 hours and 45 minutes from the US and as mentioned we are fulfilled by being in Ecuador for many reasons.

Ecuador gives us great weather in the winter and we love the people and the place. Ecuador is not a bunghole we have chosen because we dislike or fear some other place.

I repeat. The six point command posture is to:

Live in one country
Bank in a second country
Invest in many countries
Earn in two or more countries
Use a company incorporated in a fifth country
Take a second residence

Let’s take this one step further. To have a fulfilling six point lifestyle posture:

Live in one country you love.
Bank in a second country you really enjoy.
Invest in many countries you would like to explore or feel good about.
Earn in two or more countries you would like to explore or feel good about.
Use a company incorporated in a fifth country that best fits your circumstances.
Take a second residence in a place where you love and want to be.

We live in a time of incredible opportunity and freedom. There are probably dozens of places where each of us could enjoy living, investing and doing business. There is no need to look for the one perfect place. In fact, such a Utopia probably does not exist.

There are however many places like Ecuador where you can enjoy living full or part time and gain lifestyle diversification.

Also do not look for the perfect place to live, or the one and only business to do or the best investment of all forever. Our circumstances and countries, institutions and relations change.

Diversification gives us a greater ability to change too.

The greatest asset for diversification is the ability to earn wherever you live and to keep your investments safe.

A clear mind and healthy body are also a vital assets… plus a second language is a powerful diversification tool.

This is why I am willing to pay you $300 to attend either our Ecuador Super Thinking plus Spanish seminar in September or our North Carolina International Business & Investing seminar in October. Sign up for either seminar and I will email you our Tangled Web… How to Have an Internet Business Course (offered at $299) free plus I’ll knock an extra dollar off your course fee…. to round up the $300 savings.

See details of the two courses below.

Here are delegates at a recent international investing course that I co hosted with Jyske Global Asset Management.

This is why I like banking and investing in London and Copenhagen. They are my favorite European cities. Plus they are safe places to bank and Merri and I can visit our children when we visit our bankers.

Here I am with Thomas Fischer of JGAM at the seminar. While other banks are dumping Americans, Jyske is working harder to enhance its global service for US investors.

Join Merri, Thomas Fischer of JGAM, our webmaster David Cross and me in North Carolina this October and enroll in our emailed course on how to have a web business free. Save $300.

Learn more about global investing, how to have an international business and diversification in Ecuador at the course.

Here’s a comment from a Canadian delegate at our last course: Gary: First let me thank you for an excellent course. We were so fortunate to get an overview of the currency market and the internet business both delivered in understandable language and with logic to back up the ideas. Although the banking presentation by Thomas was American oriented we Canadians still got great information and know how to go forward with international banking.